AN OVERVIEW OF NECK EXERCISES

When you visit your chiropractic practice because of tension headaches, poor posture and neck pain you will find that your chiropractor will teach you neck exercises that you must do as a part of a routine to reduce the discomfort. To achieve optimal results your chiropractor will instruct you on how to perform various neck exercises for optimal results. You don’t have to wait until the time that you start feeling the pain to perform these exercises. Neck exercises should be performed as a preventive measure to strengthen, stabilize and stretch the neck muscles. Below we are going to look at different neck exercises that you can perform as well as how to perform them.

Side Bending Stretch

To relax the tight muscles that might be causing shoulder and neck discomfort you need to perform the side bending stretch exercises daily. They are the kind of exercises that will give you great comfort and relief you of the pain that you are experiencing. You just need to gently tilt your neck and head to the right so that your ear can move towards the right shoulder slowly. Make sure your head doesn’t rotate to the right or left by keeping your chin centered with neck’s midline. You should feel a gentle stretch on the left side of your neck when you have reached your lateral flexion range of motion ends. Hold your head with your right hand on the far end and apply gentle pressure using your fingertips to augment your stretch. During the stretch hold it for about twenty seconds before you let your neck to move to its neutral position. Do the stretch on you’re a reverse direction to the opposite side. Make sure you perform this operation on both sides of your, for about three to four times every week. According to SpineUniverse.com, you can perform this stretch when you are on a sitting position or while lying on your back.

Range of Motion

Performing extension and flexion range of motions will improve neck flexibility, stretch your neck muscles and maintain your segmental and cervical spine global range of motion, this is according to NeckExercises.net. You are supposed to sit on a bench or on a chair with your back straight and your head neutral aligning vertically with your shoulders. This is the starting position. Then slowly bend your neck forward while tucking your chin until you feel a great gentle stretch in the back of your neck. Hold your stretch for about ten seconds before you tilt your head backward, make sure you tilt it carefully. For the stretch augment, you just need to lean forward slightly and gently push your chest out and your neck and head to a straight position. This is one repetition. Make sure you do this for five times, at least three times a week.

Chin Tucks

To maintain your body posture chin tucks are the kind of exercises that you will need to perform. Basically, chin tucks targets the neck muscles which are responsible for our body posture. The sub occipital muscles are the muscles in the back of your just below the skull’s base that helps to maintain posture and the right body balance. Usually the habituated tension that affects these sub occipital neck muscles pulls upon the connective tissues that wrap up the skull; this is what causes headaches according to Somatics.com. You can perform chin tucks while sitting on a bench, a chair or even a cross legged one while on the floor ensuring to keep your back at a straight position. This is the only starting position to perform chin tucks. Look forward when you are in this position with a level gaze, then move your head directly backward (make sure you don’t extend your neck while moving your head backward) and at this position tuck your chin gently to your throat. Ensure you keep everything below your neck and still. While performing these exercises you should feel a gentle and a mild stretch in the back of your neck, just below the base of your skull. You are supposed to hold your stretch for about five seconds and then turn your neck to the starting position as described above earlier. Then to get maximum results and relief of your pain exercise ten times a day, three to five times every week.